Kwon Seongdong Releases 'Lee Jaemyung Outrageous Remarks Collection' on 100th Day in Office
Opposition Supporters Cheer: "It's a Collection of Wise Sayings, Not Outrageous Remarks"
Ruling Party Supporters Demand Immediate Removal from Website
The People Power Party faced a backlash after releasing a 'collection of outrageous remarks' aimed at disparaging Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Many of Lee's statements, which are difficult to classify as outrageous, were included in the booklet, leading Democratic Party lawmakers and opposition supporters to ironically praise it as a "collection of wise sayings."
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is holding a booklet titled 'Lee Jae-myung's Outrageous Remarks' during a press conference on current issues at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 21st. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
On the 21st, the People Power Party, led by Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong's office, compiled a booklet titled 'Jae-myung Outrageous Remarks Collection - The 138 Shadows of Lee Jae-myung,' which gathered 'problematic' remarks made by Lee from his time as mayor of Seongnam to the present. This was intended to escalate the offensive against Lee, a leading presidential candidate, as an early presidential election became more likely. The booklet neatly organized 138 of Lee's remarks into nine categories. The booklet is available as a PDF file for anyone to download from the People Power Party's website.
The problem lies in the fact that many policy-related or commonsensical statements, which are hard to deem outrageous, were included, leading to reactions that the booklet resembles a 'collection of wise sayings' rather than a collection of outrageous remarks. While the intention was to highlight Lee's dangerousness by gathering his problematic remarks, the result appears to have promoted Lee Jae-myung as a person instead.
For this reason, the collection of outrageous remarks has received explosive support from Lee's supporters, who say, "Isn't this a collection of wise sayings?" There are reactions that the People Power Party has achieved what even the Democratic Party could not. Floor Leader Kwon's foreword, stating that "this book is a process of reviewing Lee Jae-myung's past remarks and examining the future of Korea he dreams of," is also being interpreted differently from its original intent. Some netizens have even sent thank-you messages to Floor Leader Kwon.
Earlier on the 21st, the People Power Party, led by Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong's office, compiled a booklet titled 'Jaemyeong Outrageous Remarks Collection - The 138 Shadows of Lee Jae-myung', which gathered the 'problematic' statements made by Lee from his time as mayor of Seongnam to the present. Online community
Some of Lee's supporters have changed the cover title to 'Collection of Wise Sayings' and actively use the booklet's content to create websites for 'promoting Lee Jae-myung.' On some online communities and social networking services (SNS), netizens who appear to be opposition supporters have expressed comments such as "Thank you for creating a collection of Lee Jae-myung's wise sayings," "Is the People Power Party doing viral marketing for Lee Jae-myung?" "I want a physical copy of the booklet," and "Was Floor Leader Kwon a secret member of the Democratic Party?"
On the 21st, the Democratic Party also responded in a written briefing by spokesperson Park Kyung-mi, saying, "We thank them for creating a promotional booklet for Lee Jae-myung. It would not be inappropriate to retitle it as a promotional booklet for Lee Jae-myung." She added, "The remarks that the People Power Party labeled as outrageous will rather help people read and empathize with Lee Jae-myung's concerns and thoughts. The book contains Lee's passion to work properly and his determination to properly change Korea." On the other hand, in online communities mainly used by ruling party supporters, negative reactions such as "Lee Jae-myung hype" continue, with voices calling for the deletion of the 'collection of outrageous remarks.'
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